First Edition: July 24, 2023

KFF Health News: Everything Old Is New Again? The Latest Round Of Health Policy Proposals Reprises Existing Ideas
Forget “repeal and replace,” an oft-repeated Republican rallying cry against the Affordable Care Act. House Republicans have advanced a package of bills that could reduce health insurance costs for certain businesses and consumers, partly by rolling back some consumer protections. Rather than outright repeal, however, the subtler effort could allow more employers to bypass the landmark health insurance overhaul’s basic benefits requirements and most state standards. (Appleby, 7/24)

KFF Health News: FDA Head Robert Califf Battles Misinformation — Sometimes With Fuzzy Facts
Robert Califf, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, doesn’t seem to be having fun on the job. “I would describe this year as hand-to-hand combat. Really, every day,” he said at an academic conference at Stanford in April. It’s a sentiment the FDA commissioner has expressed often. (Tahir, 7/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Listeria Outbreak In Washington State Kills Three, Sickens Two
Three people died and two others were hospitalized in Washington state after contracting listeria infections in recent months, health officials said. (Adams Otis, 7/23)

NBC News: 3 Dead In Washington State Listeria Cluster
Though genetic fingerprinting known as genome sequencing helped health professionals conclude the infections most likely had the same origin, the department had yet to trace the outbreak to a common food source, the department said. The bacteria can be found on food preparation surfaces, fresh, unpasteurized cheese, leafy greens, and cold cuts, as well as in raw milk. (Romero, 7/23)

Stat: Most Tornado Damage At Pfizer Plant Hit Warehouse, Some Drugs Impacted
Pfizer says a tornado that ripped through a key manufacturing plant in North Carolina does not appear to have caused “any major damage” to areas that produce medicines. The company reported most damage from the storm occurred at a warehouse that stores raw materials, packaging supplies, and finished medicines awaiting release by quality assurance personnel. As a result, it remains unclear about the extent to which destruction at the facility — which produces nearly 8% of all sterile injectables used in U.S. hospitals — will exacerbate a growing shortage of prescription drugs across the country. (Silverman, 7/21)

Reuters: Tornado Damage At Pfizer's North Carolina Plant Was Mostly At Warehouse, CEO Says
"We are moving full speed to bring this manufacturing plant into action again," Bourla said, noting that crews were working to restore power to the plant. In the meantime, the company is trying to identify alternative manufacturing locations in the U.S. The Rocky Mount plant is one of the largest factories for sterile injectable medicines in the world. Its products include anesthesia, painkillers and anti-infective medicines for use in hospitals. (Erman and Ljunggren, 7/22)

Modern Healthcare: Pfizer Tornado Damage Highlights Supply Chain Vulnerability
Prior to the catastrophe at the Pfizer plant, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists already identified shortages of several sterile injectable products. Among them is sterile water, which drugmaker American Regent stopped manufacturing in 2021, and other companies have struggled to keep up with the increased demand since then. Other products, including certain sodium chloride bags and injections, have been in shortage since 2017, according to the ASHP. (Devereaux, 7/21)

Stat: White House Launches Permanent Pandemic Office 
The White House on Friday launched its pandemic preparedness office, half a year after Congress instructed the administration to set up a new arm in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy is a now-permanent installment in Washington and will first be led by retired Major General Paul Friedrichs, a longtime biosecurity official. It comes roughly two months after the Covid-19 public health emergency ended and weeks after Covid-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha stepped down, reflecting an overall wind-down of the administration’s coronavirus efforts. (Owermohle, 7/21)

The New York Times: Biden Picks Paul Friedrichs To Lead New White House Pandemic Office 
President Biden has picked Dr. Paul Friedrichs, a military combat surgeon and retired Air Force major general who helped lead the Covid-19 response at the Pentagon, to head a new White House office created by Congress to prepare for and manage future biological threats. The White House announced the appointment on Friday and said it would take effect on Aug. 7. It will then be up to Dr. Friedrichs to set up the new office, the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, although the administration has christened it with a shorter Washington acronym: O.P.P.R. (Gay Stolberg, 7/21)

Reuters: White House Launches New Pandemic Office To Be Led By Retired General
The White House had been expected to cut down its COVID response team after the U.S. government in May ended its COVID Public Health Emergency. Biden said in September last year he believed the coronavirus pandemic was over in the United States. In June, the White House announced the departure of Ashish Jha, the last of the Biden administration's rotating COVID response coordinators. (Singh, 7/21)

USA Today: Deadly, COVID-Style Pandemic Could Easily Start In US, Report Finds
The next global pandemic could come from the United States. That's the sobering message of a report from Harvard Law School and New York University, examining how humans, livestock and wild animals interact here. (Weintraub, 7/22)

The New York Times: Drugmakers Throw ‘Kitchen Sink’ To Halt Medicare Price Negotiations 
The pharmaceutical industry, which suffered a stinging defeat last year when President Biden signed a law authorizing Medicare to negotiate the price of some prescription medicines, is now waging a broad-based assault on the measure — just as the negotiations are about to begin. The law, the Inflation Reduction Act, is a signature legislative achievement for Mr. Biden, who has boasted that he took on the drug industry and won. Medicare is the federal health insurance program for older and disabled people; the provisions allowing it to negotiate prices are expected to save the government an estimated $98.5 billion over a decade while lowering insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs for many older Americans. (Gay Stolberg and Robbins, 7/23)

The New York Times: How Gilead Profited By Slow-Walking A Promising H.I.V. Therapy
In 2004, Gilead Sciences decided to stop pursuing a new H.I.V. drug. The public explanation was that it wasn’t sufficiently different from an existing treatment to warrant further development. In private, though, something else was at play. Gilead had devised a plan to delay the new drug’s release to maximize profits, even though executives had reason to believe it might turn out to be safer for patients, according to a trove of internal documents made public in litigation against the company. (Robbins and Gay Stolberg, 7/22)

The Hill: Key Drug-Pricing Bill Capping Insulin Costs Faces Hurdles In Congress
Major drug-pricing legislation to cap the cost of insulin is in danger of slipping to the fall, where it risks getting lost amid fights over appropriations bills, abortion and a potential government shutdown. The legislation is a priority for Democrats, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said earlier this month that he was hoping to combine the insulin bill and legislation reforming the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry into a package that could get bipartisan support and a vote before the end of summer. (Weixel, 7/23)

Politico: Health Policy Wars Consume Appropriations Bills, Risking Shutdown
House Republicans’ Food and Agriculture spending bill would ban mail delivery of abortion pills and deregulate the tobacco industry. Their Foreign Operations bill would defund the World Health Organization. And multiple bills would bar access to gender-affirming care. Republicans, in coordination with outside conservative groups such as Susan B. Anthony List and the America First Policy Institute, are using must-pass appropriations bills to make their mark on a wide range of health policies, injecting culture wars into the already fraught debate over government spending and raising the chances of a government shutdown. (Miranda Ollstein, 7/23)

Politico: The VA’s New Medical Records System Has Gone Haywire. Congress Is Alarmed
The Veterans Affairs Department’s fumbling effort to replace its decadesold electronic health records system has strained its relationship with Congress to the breaking point. Anger about the project — billions over budget, tied to at least four veterans’ deaths, and now, on pause — is responsible for a spate of bill introductions, some aiming to shut the project down, others to boost oversight and accountability. The problems also led Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley to hold up a confirmation vote on President Joe Biden's nominee for one of the VA's top posts. (Leonard, 7/21)

NBC News: CDC Prepares For Possible RSV, Covid And Flu Winter ‘Tripledemic’
Even as the nation is faced with blistering heat waves this summer, Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is already thinking ahead to cold and flu season this winter. “We’re going to have three bugs out there, three viruses: Covid, of course, flu and RSV,” Cohen said in an interview. “We need to make sure the American people understand all three and what they can do to protect themselves.” (Edwards, 7/22)

AP: Drinking Water In South Dakota's 3rd Largest City Has An Increased Risk Of Disease, Officials Say
Officials in South Dakota’s third most populous city, Aberdeen, are warning residents that their drinking water contains an elevated risk of disease. The Aberdeen Water Works Treatment Plant experienced mechanical malfunctions in two filters used to clean water and make it drinkable for residents, resulting in “an increased chance of disease-causing organisms in the drinking water,” according to a public notice from the city, The Argus Leader reported Thursday. (7/21)

AP: Cupkin Children's Cups Sold On Amazon Recalled Over Newly-Detected Lead Levels
More than 345,000 children’s cups are being recalled due to lead levels that exceed the federal content ban, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday. Soojimus is recalling 8-ounce and 12-ounce models of its Cupkin Double-Walled Stainless Steel Children’s Cups — sold in various colors on Amazon and the Cupkin website from 2018 through earlier this year. (7/21)

NBC News: Drinking Borax Is Latest TikTok Trend Medical Experts Are Debunking
At least twice a month, Dr. Kelly Johnson-Arbor finds herself debunking a viral social media trend that could jeopardize people’s health. This week it's borax. The powdery substance is found in laundry detergent and sold on its own as a cleaning product. Boric acid, a different formulation of the same compound — boron — is also used to kill ants and cockroaches. (Bendix and Yang, 7/22)

CBS News: Public Health Alert Issued For Never Any! Ready-To-Eat Ham And Cheese Lunch Kits
A public health alert has been issued for ready-to-eat ham and cheese lunch kits because the chocolate chip cookies inside the kit might contain peanut. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Services issued this alert to ensure customers with peanut allergies know not to eat this product. (Powers, 7/21)

The Boston Globe: Births Among Those 30 And Older Declines For First Time In Decade
The number of people 30 and older who gave birth decreased for the first time in 10 years during 2020, according to new data published by the Department of Public Health. The drop of 1.8 percent in that age group comes as overall births in Massachusetts in 2020 — 66,442 ― declined by 3.9 percent. The peak of births in the state came in 1990 with 92,461, according to DPH’s 2020 birth data annual report. (Kuznitz, 7/21)

AP: New Report Points To Homicide Rate Declines In US Cities After Pandemic-Era Spike
Homicides are declining in a cross-section of American cities, though their numbers remain higher than before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, according to a new report analyzing data from 30 U.S. cities. Homicides on average dropped 9.4% during the first half of 2023 as compared to the same period last year, the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice found in a report released this week. (Whitehurst, 7/21)

USA Today: Nevada Two-Year-Old Dies From Rare Brain-Eating Amoeba, Naegleria Fowleri
A Las Vegas toddler passed away from a rare brain-eating amoeba called Naegleria fowleri, The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) said in a statement. Woodrow Bundy, 2, died Wednesday morning after being treated at Sunrise Children's Hospital in Las Vegas, KTLA reported. (Louallen, 7/21)

USA Today: Doctors Amputated A Texas Man's Arms And Feet After He Was Bitten By A Flea
A single flea bite has caused a Texas man to lose several limbs over the past month. There are more than 2,500 different flea species found around the world, but only four are known to severely affect your health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those 2,500 flea species, only about 300 are found in the U.S. (Encinas, 7/21)

The Wall Street Journal: At Startup That Says Its AI Writes Medical Records, Humans Do A Lot Of The Work
Hundreds of doctors across the U.S. have entrusted recordings of their private talks with patients to a startup promising to turn the conversations into usable medical records through artificial intelligence. (Walker, 7/23)

CBS News: AI Could Revolutionize Dentistry. Here's How
New forms of artificial intelligence are already changing how we write, communicate with our doctors and even create art. But the rapidly evolving technology could soon have a permanent fixture in a more sensitive environment: our mouths. Hundreds of dental offices across the U.S. are now using AI-powered X-ray imaging technology from Boston-based VideaHealth. The software helps dentists deal with routine procedures, such as identifying cavities, as well as spot more serious conditions, including periodontal disease, or bone loss within the mouth often linked with diseases like diabetes or Alzheimer's. (Bangalore, 7/21)

Fox News: Alzheimer’s Disease May Be Detected By A Finger Prick Blood Test For Earlier Diagnosis And Treatment 
A simple finger prick blood test may help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, according to research revealed this week at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in Amsterdam. The blood test is similar to the glucose testing method used by people with diabetes. Instead of sugar, however, it measures Alzheimer’s-related proteins in the brain, according to a news release from the Alzheimer’s Association. (McGorry, 7/23)

ABC News: Watching TV As A Kid Linked To High Blood Pressure And Obesity As An Adult: Study
The amount of time that young people spend watching screens -- instead of physical activity like sports, hikes or gardening -- could be linked to health issues in adulthood, according to a new study. Children and teenagers who spent more time watching television had less efficient oxygen use during exercise, higher blood pressure, and higher rates of obesity in mid-adulthood, even when accounting for sex, childhood body mass index and the family's economic situation, the study published in Pediatrics says. (Hwang, 7/24)

CIDRAP: Early US Indicators Show Ongoing Slight Rise In COVID-19 Activity
Though the nation's COVID-19 activity is still at very low levels, for the second week in a row early indicators such as emergency department (ED) visits and test-positivity rates show small rises, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest data updates. Also today, the CDC updated its Omicron variant projections, showing more rises in newer versions such as EG.5 and XBB.1.16.6. And in another US development, the Biden administration today announced its pick to lead the new White House pandemic preparedness and response office. (Schnirring, 7/21)

CIDRAP: Study: 1 In 6 Kids Have Persistent COVID Symptoms For 3 Months After Infection
A systematic review today in Pediatrics of 31 studies published through December 2022 reveals that persistent symptoms 3 months after confirmed COVID-19 infections, or "long COVID," affect 16% of children and adolescents. The 31 studies included 15,000 children, and researchers recorded more than 20 persistent symptoms. For the first months of the pandemic, there was a dearth of research and understanding on how and if children could suffer from long COVID. (Soucheray, 7/21)

CIDRAP: Low Levels Of Resistance To Paxlovid Seen In SARS-CoV-2 Isolates
A study today in JAMA Network Open offers reassurance that resistance to one of the most effective COVID-19 therapeutics is rare. The study was based on SARS-CoV-2 isolates collected from March 2020 to January 2023 in Ontario, and it demonstrates very low levels of resistance to Paxlovid, the antiviral drug most commonly used to limit the duration and severity of COVID-19 infections. (Soucheray, 7/21)

Fortune: COVID In Your House? Isolating From Sick Family Members May Not Do Much Good, According To A New Study
Avoiding your spouse, kids, and other household members for days on end when you’re sick with COVID—it might not do much good, according to a new study published this week in the journal eLife. For the record, not all experts agree. (Prater, 7/21)

Reuters: GSK's HIV Prevention Drug Gets European Marketing Nod
GSK Plc (GSK.L) said on Monday that its HIV-focused unit ViiV Healthcare's cabotegravir injected drug and tablets got marketing authorisation from the European Medicines Agency. Cabotegravir is recommended in combination with safer sex practices for pre-exposure prophylaxis to reduce the risk of sexually-acquired HIV-1 infection in high-risk adults and adolescents weighing at least 35 kilogrammes, the company said. (7/24)

Reuters: Verrica's Drug Gets US Nod As First Treatment For A Type Of Skin Infection
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc's treatment of a viral skin infection in adults and children aged 2 years and above, the company said on Friday. The green light for Verrica's drug, Ycanth, makes it the first approved treatment for viral skin disease molluscum contagiosum in the United States. (Roy and Mandowara, 7/21)

Modern Healthcare: AI, Women’s Health Startups Get Funding Deals
The nonprofit Peterson Center for Healthcare launched a $50 million digital health venture on Tuesday. The Peterson Health Technology Institute will provide independent analyses of digital health technologies that consider factors such as clinical benefits, economic impacts, privacy, equity and security. The institute will publish reports on tech ranging from artificial intelligence to provider enablement tools, but will not evaluate direct-to-consumer products, Peterson Center on Healthcare Executive Director Caroline Pearson told Crain’s New York Business. The organization's work will help health insurers, providers and investors assess potential purchases, she said. (Perna and Turner, 7/21)

Reuters: Roche Enters Partnership With Alnylam For Hypertension Therapy
Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said on Monday it had entered into a partnership with U.S. biopharmaceutical company Alnylam to co-develop and co-commercialise zilebesiran, a therapy to treat hypertension in patients with high cardiovascular risk. Under terms of agreement, which provides Roche with exclusive commercialisation rights outside of the United States and joint commercialisation rights within the country, Alnylam would receive an upfront payment of $310 million, Roche said. (7/24)

Reuters: Pfizer To End License Deal With Syros For Blood Disorder Therapies
Syros Pharmaceuticals said on Friday Pfizer will terminate a license deal between the companies related to the development of novel therapies for two blood disorders. Shares of Syros were down 5.7% in trading after the bell. The termination will end the company's more than three-year long collaboration with sickle cell disease drugmaker Global Blood Therapeutics that Pfizer bought in a $5.4 billion deal last August. (7/21)

Modern Healthcare: Nursing Schools Embrace Quality, Safety Education Initiatives
With hospitals experiencing an increase in adverse events and patient harm in recent years, nursing schools are introducing their students to concepts of safety and care quality as key aspects of their learning. Educators should make competency in such areas a top priority for physicians and nurses, especially because health systems are still dealing with the detrimental effects of widespread staffing shortages and training disruptions, said Patricia McGaffigan, vice president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (Devereaux, 7/21)

AP: Minneapolis Backs Off Arrests For Psychedelic Plant Use
Minneapolis is backing away from enforcing laws that criminalize buying psychedelic plants or using them in private. Mayor Jacob Frey on Friday ordered police to stop using taxpayer dollars to enforce most laws against hallucinogenic plants. Minneapolis still prioritizes enforcing laws against selling psychedelic plants, bringing them to schools or using them while driving. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara in a statement said he stands by the mayor’s decision. (7/24)

The Boston Globe: West Nile Virus Detected In Boston For First Time This Summer
The West Nile virus was detected in a mosquito pool in South Boston, the first time this summer the mosquito-borne illness has been found in the city, according to the Boston Public Health Commission. The commission said there are no confirmed cases of West Nile virus in Boston and the “risk of transmission remains low.” Mosquitoes transfer the virus to humans through bites. (Ellement, 7/21)